Back to top

Image: Bigstock

VIVUS (VVUS) Beats on Q4 Earnings, Revenues Increase Y/Y

Read MoreHide Full Article

VIVUS Inc. reported earnings of 54 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2016 as against a loss of 12 cents in the year-ago period. Earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 9 cents by 700%.

 

 

Shares of the biotech company soared almost 27% in aftermarket hours on Wednesday. However, so far this year, Vivus’ shares have slightly underperformed the Zacks classified Medical - Biomedical and Genetics. Shares of Vivus rose 7.8% during the period, while the industry witnessed a gain of 8.1%.

 

Quarterly revenues increased 434.6% to $81.8 million form the year-ago period. The increase in top line was due to a one-time $70 million licence fee from Metuchen Pharmaceuticals for commercialization of Stendra. Metuchen Pharmaceuticals owns the commercialization rights for Stendra in the U.S., Canada, South America and India for the erectile dysfunction indication.

Quarter in Detail

General and administrative expense was $9.3 million, up 82.3% year over year mainly due to an increase in consulting expense, one-time cost related to the Metuchen license agreement and legal fees. Research and development expense decreased 45.45% in the reported quarter due to unfavorable timing of the performance of post-marketing required clinical trials for Osymia.

The company’s weight management drug Qsymia generated net product sales of $11 million, down 21.4% from the year-ago period due to obesity market challenges. Vivus management said that the anti-obesity pharmaceutical market, including Qsymia, declined 10% sequentially in the fourth quarter.

Qsymia sales have been lacklustre to date. The uptake has been slow due to high out-of-pocket cost burden for patients owing to lack of reimbursement for the product. However, VIVUS is working on boosting Qsymia sales by expanding reimbursement and promotional initiatives.

Supply and royalty revenues from Stendra/Spedra were $1.4 million, down 1% from the year-ago period due to a decrease of 56% in royalty revenues.

In Jan 2017, Vivus granted a license to Hetero to manufacture and commercialize an authorized generic version of Stendra no earlier than Oct 29, 2024. Hetero had previously filed an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) to get approval to market a generic version of Stendra.

In Jan 2017, Vivus acquired exclusive, worldwide rights for the development and commercialization of tacrolimus and ascomycin from Selten Pharma, Inc. for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) and related vascular diseases

Full-Year 2016 Results

Full year 2016 earnings per share were 22 cents as against the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 41 cents. In the year-ago period, the company had reported a loss of 90 cents.

Full year 2016 revenues came in at $124.3 million of which $69.4 million came from Metuchen as licensing fees.

VIVUS, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

VIVUS, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | VIVUS, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

VIVUS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include Cellectis S.A. (CLLS - Free Report) , Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANTH - Free Report) and Heska Corporation . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cellectis’ loss estimates narrowed from $2.94 to $1.91 for 2017 over the last 60 days. Its share price is up approximately 33.9% year to date.

Anthera’s loss estimates narrowed from $1.49 to $1.17 for 2017 over the last 60 days. Its share price is up 6.7% year to date.

Heska’s earnings estimates increased from $1.53 to $1.64 for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted a positive surprise in each of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 291.54%. Its share price is up approximately 34.8% year to date.

8 Stocks with Huge Profit Potential

Just released: Driverless Cars: Your Roadmap to Mega-Profits Today. In this latest Special Report, Zacks’ Aggressive Growth Strategist Brian Bolan explores a full-blown technological breakthrough in the making – autonomous cars. He also spotlights 8 stocks with tremendous gain potential to feed off this phenomenon. Click to see the stocks right now >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANTH) - free report >>

Cellectis S.A. (CLLS) - free report >>

Published in